The Candy Shop
by Rel-Fakih
Summary: Dear Lawliet, You have until the end of your lifespan to change the course of history. If you fail, you will go to hell. If you succeed, you shall go to heaven. We're trying to clear out purgatory. There are just too many souls here. And you're fully capable of changing the world. At least you're capable of changing their world. With Love, The Shinigami King (ABANDONED)
1. Chapter 1

In the endless landscape of darkness and bones, Lawliet could not understand if it was heaven or hell he was at. He figured it was hell, because of the rancid air and choking feeling, but it was not quite as painful as hell was to be described as. The world he was standing within was simply uncomfortable.

"Hey there," a shinigami leaned back into his chair, golden rings and chains decorating his body. He was not there before, L bit his thumb, curiously. In the world of the dead, nothing was impossible, he figured.

"Shinigami, what do you want from me?" L asked.

"Well... I don't really know. There's this one world who has been stuck in an illusion for a thousand years, and the only man who could have saved it got stuck inside of it and is now living out the rest of his life with his wife and children... in his head. I was just thinking about sending you back in time so you could make him just a tad bit smarter?" the shinigami tapped his fingers against the bones in his head.

"How would you expect me to do that?"

"Be a guiding hand. I'll add you as an addition to a nice family. Their name is Hanarou. They'll take care of your early life as you slowly regain your memories of your past life," the shinigami cackled, "no you won't remember everything at first but eventually you will."

"If I don't agree, what will happen?" L asked.

"I'll send someone else to go do it. And you get to spend the rest of your time in purgatory! Did I mention, when you die in that world you'll find peace?"

"I will agree to this," L said.

"Fine, than. As the Shinigami King, I will place these provisions upon you. First, you must complete changing the course of history. When you finish, your life will end, and you will be sent to heaven, otherwise known as peace. Second, if you fail, you will be placed in hell at the end of a normal lifespan. You have until then to complete the task. Third, your true name, Lawliet, shall not be changed, because it is what you were from the beginning of time. Your parents in the new world will name you-"

* * *

" _Congratulations! It's a boy. What do you want to name him?"_

" _Rue. Rue Ryuuzaki Hanarou."_


	2. Chapter 2

Minato never knew who was sending the letters. They were all stylized with the same letter, "L." Inside of the contents of the letter were case files and details informing of great criminals who got away for petty things. Minato sent genin after the criminals- the prisons were filling up quickly, but continued to marvel at who the "L" was, and wondering how he was sending so many letters at once.

Crimes were reported to the police every single day, but the police were inefficient and slow. They were more specialized in catching criminals, not finding out who they were. When "L" appeared, the crime rates went to an all time low, as most of them were rotting in jail by then. Little did the Namikaze know a seven year old was obtaining all this information and putting it together on his desk. There was a pattern to the cases however: only cases where murder was involved were being solved.

Seven year old Rue was sitting at his desk, studying like a good boy at the time the Hokage was wondering about him. "Rue-chan, you should really stop eating so many sweets. They aren't good for you," his mother could hardly complain, however. His grades in school were excellent and beyond what she could have hoped for. She had no idea how she produced a child so smart but with such a severe case of the sweet tooth. She carried off his trash can that was filled to the brim with candy wrappers.

The Hanarou family had no idea what exactly, their son was. Ever since he cried for candy when he was three, he had never stopped since. Candy was relatively cheap, which was good. But when his mother refused to fill the pantry with any more sweets, the boy would eat plain sugar, which seriously depleted their supply. The boy was incredibly addicted.

Yet curiously enough, he never was fat. He sat in his room in an awful crouched position and ate candy when he wasn't at school. He brought no friends home from school. They had sent him to civilian school because he had asked for it. Again, when it was time for the ninja academy to start up, they asked him if he wanted to go there. He replied with a stoic "no." It wasn't as if it were bad for the family, they were from a long line of business merchants after all, who, coincidentally, sold candy.

"Mother," he repeated for the last time, "they fuel my brain."

"All foods fuel your brain. You could simply go for the healthier option, that's all," she responded, feeling helpless.

Rue sighed, "I'll think about it."

 _I'll think about it,_ that's all he ever said when she pounded on his eating habits. For god's sakes, he was eating cake for dinner. The only healthy thing he ever ate was fruit. And he ate that with whipping cream too. The pains of having a genius for a son, she thought. He was an absolute weirdo, but she loved him as any mother would.

"You're going to need to set a healthy example for your sister," she told him.

"My sister is not born yet," he replied, "and how do you know it's not going to be a brother?"

"Just a feeling," she smiled, gently touching her stomach, "I know it'll be a girl."

"That's impossible," Rue turned back to the papers on his desk, "but you've got a fifty percent chance so don't tell me 'I told you so' when she does end up being a girl."

Less than a year later, the kyuubi attacked.

" _Be a guiding hand,"_ he could hear a voice echo within his head. Rue woke up suddenly to the sounds of screaming. Shinobi from all over the village were called to tame the beast. He got up out of bed as fast as he could, and pulled on his clothes.

"Don't go outside, it's dangerous!" his mother called after him. He ignored her and ran down the steps and outside. He wanted to see the beast the Hokage's wife had inside of her for a long time. His curiosity could not keep him inside.

There it was, rampaging with all nine tails swinging about. The fox was truly a majestic, beautiful animal. It screamed, and the roar could knock away a thousand men it was so powerful, in breath and sound. "Glorious," was all Rue could barely whisper before his father picked him up by his waist and pulled him back inside.

"Your mother is eight months pregnant, you think that the last thing she'd want to hear is her son got killed by the Kyuubi no Yoko. Have some empathy, Rue, please," his father whispered barely above the sounds of the screaming.

One thing that always bothered him about his father was his naturally pink hair. How was it possible that someone could have naturally pink hair? Rue sighed, "Yes, father. I just wanted to see what it looked like for myself."

His father sighed, "Rue, the whole village is in danger right now. I don't think your life is worth the risk of glimpsing the kyuubi."

Rue was tempted to tell him that regardless whether he was inside or outside, the kyuubi posed a threat either ways. He simply nodded, and dragged himself back up the stairs, and stared out the window, wishing he had a better view.

* * *

"Sakura," Rue waited for a response from his neighboring room. He was eleven, and his little sister was four.

"Yes?"

"What's sixteen times thirty eight?" he quizzed. The sandaime Hokage seemed equally as happy with L's mystery solving, but it had gone down considerably after the Nara clan had taken over the police force. He knew for a fact the yondaime had tried implementing such a role, but it had never worked, because the Nara clan was made up of lazy people, not just smart people. The Nara clan had only agreed because of the kyuubi attack, they felt it was necessary to honor the Yellow Flash, since everybody loved him.

There were less cases to solve than ever

"Six hooondred and ate," Sakura answered proudly from the other side of the closet. They sat so close they could hear each other, but they were a wall apart. Rue had never been so bored in his life.

"Good job," Rue replied, the corners of his mouth tilting upwards, "balance this equation-"

"Rue, your mother and I are going out for a bit. Go downstairs to take care of the shop please," he was interrupted by his father.

"Aww, but daaaaaaaaaaaddy," Sakura complained, "Oni-san was about to teach me chemistry."

"Sorry, Sakura, this is an important business trip. You can watch over the shop with him," Rue had started watching over the shop since he was ten years old. It was the most boring job he'd ever done. Sakura made it bearable as he continuously quizzed and tested her.

"Okay..." she sighed. The two got up from their closet walls and walked out to meet each other in the hallway. Sakura giggled as Rue poked her face. The bottom floor was the candy shop, where they ran their family business.

Rue let his mother leave the cashier station and return upstairs, and sat in the where she was, in the same crouching position. Sakura was sitting next to him normally on a tall stool.

The bell ringed as soon as Rue got comfortable with his position. A little boy that was exactly Sakura's age walked in.

"Hi," the boy said nervously to Rue and Sakura.

"Hello," he responded, turning back to Sakura, "calcium hydroxide plus carbon dioxide equals calcium carbonate, plus water."

"What are you learning?" he turned back to the blond boy with unusual birthmarks on his cheeks that mildly resembled whiskers.

"We're doing chemistry today," Rue said, "isn't that right, Sakura?"

The boy brightened, "What's that?"

"It's science," Sakura bragged, "Oni-chan is teaching me the hard stuff. Right?"

Just then, their parents dressed like a concert arrived at the bottom of the stairs. "Alright, we're off," their mother commented. They turned to look at the blonde boy, almost menacingly, but then ignored him and went off on their way. The blonde boy seemed to be visibly shaken when they left. He looked a lot like the deceased Hokage, the fourth one, Rue duly noted.

" _You'll go to hell..."_ a voice whispered in his mind, " _if you don't help."_

"Hmm," Rue turned to Sakura, "let's include him in our studies, why don't we?"


	3. Chapter 3

"You're not cool enough, Rue," Sakura outright said. She had been so cute when she was four. As soon as she went to school, Rue became the weird one. Which was completely fine, but their studies ended just as quickly. He had begun training her when she was able to talk. But now, it didn't matter. She refused to look to him anymore.

At least he had the boy in the candy shop who still liked him. His name was Naruto. He came every day to balance equations and do math problems. The boy was in need of so much stimulation it was incredible. He had an intense case of ADHD and wore orange day after day.

However, for some reason, ever since he started sitting next to Rue in the shop, the customers would see him and leave, hurting the business. Not like he cared about the money, but Rue loved candy and didn't ever want to see his family business close down.

"Naruto," Rue finally asked, "why don't they like you?"

Naruto started to cry, his bright blue eyes spilling out more tears than imaginable, "I don't know," he sniffled.

Rue leaned back in his chair, and patted Naruto on the head, "Neither do I. What do you say we bring your studies back to your room."

"Uh..." Naruto hesitated.

"I'm not here all the time. Besides, I have nothing better to do," Rue replied.

"Okay..." Naruto gave him the address, "I just started the academy to becoming a ninja-"

"When I was your age, they were supposed to start you at seven," Rue commented for absolutely no reason whatsoever except for there was an author who didn't plan ahead.

Naruto shrugged, "so I won't be there in the mornings."

"Sakura started academy too," he thought, "are you in the same class?"

Naruto nodded solemnly, "but she hasn't spoken to me since she started talking to Ino and the other girls. They're all in love with Sasuke."

"Who's Sasuke?"

"The last Uchiha. He's the 'coolest' guy but he's really arrogant and has a stick inside his butt."

The Uchiha were a specialized ninja clan who copied techniques. As far as Rue knew, they were all wiped out, except for a sole survivor.

"Maybe he isn't so bad. We could all study together," Rue always had a soft spot for orphans because he was one himself-

 _Where did that come from? I have parents. A sister, a family. We're very happy. I have never been an orphan._

Rue touched himself in the head, thinking something was wrong.

"Okay, Naruto. I'll be there after school," Rue's voice was beginning to get raspy.

"Are you okay?" he asked worried.

"Yes, just... I'm off shift now-" Rue began to clutch his head, "go Naruto. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Mom?!" he called off for her. Naruto ran away. He was afraid of Rue's parents. Rue knew that perfectly well, but didn't bother, his head felt as if it were splitting open.

He ran up the stairs, two flights, to get to his room.

"Rue don't leave without me there first!" his mother warned from below the stairs, but Rue had left the shop unattended, "Sakura watch the shop for a minute I'll be down there."

Yeah, a five year old to watch the shop. What was wrong with people these days?

He collapsed on his bed he hardly used, and wrapped himself in the comfort of his blankets, vividly hallucinating an image of an apple.

" _Help him... help him..."_ voices began whispering into his head.

" _You will go to hell..."_

" _Hell..."_

" _Change history."_

 _Church bells rang loudly, echoing the sound of return. Lawliet ran back to Whammy, alone and afraid. None of the other kids liked him. They kicked him and bullied him, they called him names. Only one other kid liked him. His name was BB, which stood for Beyond Birthday. His favorite thing to eat was strawberry jam, and he was always talking to Lawliet._

 _It was a relief when Lawliet was pulled out, away from Whammy's house. A new man named Watari gave him clothes and all the food. "You like puzzles don't you? What about crime?"_

 _With the influence of technology, Lawliet was able to make a name for himself, by the name of "L."_

 _So that's where the L came from. He wasn't sure how he decided to choose it, but he knew now. It was his name in his past life._

 _A new case came up. Kira, a serial killer who murdered with heart attacks, appeared. He used a face and a name to kill. Lawliet had managed to corner the killer. But suddenly, his heart beat it's last._

 _-and there it is. You remember now. What are you going to do?_

" _Save Naruto, and find peace,"_

 _It's what he agreed to do after all._


	4. Chapter 4

L felt like absolute shit when he woke up. No better way to put it. He observed the room around him, and suddenly he knew exactly who he was. He was no longer the Hanarous' son. He was not part of their family, as much as he grew attached during the first eleven years of his "life." He was a fully grown man who had hardly a speck of social interaction in his life. As he got up from bed, he knew what his previous self had been like. Not so different from himself: a bored but intelligent being who processed information just as quickly. But his previous self knew much more about being social than he did. His previous self knew how to deal with children like Sakura and Naruto.

Slowly, he walked down the steps, stair by stair, observing the floral print. He heard the voice of his birth giver, "Sakura, get ready for school. Rue, you too..."

School was pointless. L learned nothing. It was interesting how both their children were named after flowers. L decided somehow, he would have to graduate early and join the police force. Physically, unfortunately, was the only way to do it. They would never assign him cases otherwise... unless he could tell the new... or old Hokage that he had been the one assisting in all the crimes previously.

"Here's your bento, you two," his 'mother' said as she handed him and his 'sister' a lunchbox to go off to school with. Sakura looked ecstatic. L, on the other hand, exited the door, gratefully nodding. But instead of heading the usual path to the prison he was forced to sit at every single day for eight hours, he headed towards the tower sitting in the middle of the city. Nobody would mind if the perfect, straight A student decided to go off for a day.

He passed by the ninja academy, where they were sparring outside. Curious, he peeked over the chain fence to stare for a bit. Naruto was standing there, grudgingly, looking down at the grass. All the other students seemed to avoid him. One black haired girl was pressing her fingers together habitually, and occasionally glancing up at the blond. Sakura, on the other hand, was staring at a different black haired boy. So were most of the other female students.

The black haired boy's expression was identical to Naruto's. He was staring at the ground, scowling, instead of looking at the fight between a different black haired boy who looked like he had a pineapple for a head, and a chubby boy, who looked ready to cry. Children were fascinating. So was the black haired boy who was scowling. Was it, perhaps, the boy whose clan was slaughtered in a night? Sasuke Uchiha?

L smiled and walked off. The world was an exciting place to be in. Science and math were the same, but a completely new force seemed to throw everything off. "Chakura," they called it. He couldn't help but think it was similar to chi. Once he arrived at the Hokage tower, he walked in and found a secretary staring at him.

"Hello, what do you need? Shouldn't you be in school?" she asked.

L sighed. His body was certainly an inconvenience, if he had looked like his actual age of nineteen, he would not be having such a problem. The secretary was looking nervously around for an adult following him. But nothing happened.

"I'm here to see Hokage-sama about something extremely important," he stated, almost afraid the secretary would not accept, "tell him it's about L."

L thought it should get the Hokage running down. He was ninety-eight percent sure that the Yondaime had told the Sandaime about his little detective. There were ninja, however. Wasn't it curious that he hadn't been found about yet?

Perhaps he had been found. The Hokage simply made no attempt to contact him because he was, after all, still a little child.

The secretary opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by an ANBU who whisked down next to him. The ANBU had silver hair that defied gravity. "I will take him to see the Hokage."

As he thought. They knew. The silver haired ANBU led him up the stairs.

"So you know my identity,"

"Only the Yondaime and I do. He never had a reason or chance to tell the Sandaime what your letters were all about. The only way you managed to cover your tracks was by physically handing it to the mailman and telling him where to go. I'm impressed that you convinced him to do so."

A ninety-eight percent chance ended in failure. And the mailman didn't take much conviction. He simply said, "okay." L had asked so politely after all.

"It wasn't difficult," L replied. Once they reached the top of the stairs, the ANBU knocked on the door.

"My dogs could sniff out your print," the ANBU continued, "once I knew who you were, I notified the Yondaime, and he told me to watch you and see how you achieved all your information."

"Come in," an older voice said from behind the door. The two of them entered together. They were greeted by the Hokage, who was getting to be fairly old. He smiled as soon as he saw the ANBU and L, "and what could you two possibly want from me?"

The ANBU took off his mask, and underneath he was... wearing another mask. Over his face. His other eye was covered by his hiate. He said, "Hokage-sama, this is L."

"L?" he frowned, "Kakashi, I fail to see the point of all this. Why are you introducing me to a child who should be in school right now?"

"Actually," L began to speak, "you may be right about me being in school, but I've decided to become a detective in the police force."

Kakashi turned to look at L, "So that's what you're here for?"

"Yes," L said stoically, "I will always be there to solve the impossible cases. Let me be a detective,"

"Kakash-" the Hokage began.

"L was the boy who solved all the cases for the Yondaime before the Nara clan began helping with the police force. They're still being lazy about it," Kakashi stated, tilting his head at the Hokage, "I know he may not seem like much more than an ordinary citizen, but trust me. This boy is incredible. I've watched him for a long time now,"

L turned to stare at Kakashi. He wasn't particularly surprised. If there was anyone who showed potential, it was him, who solved so many cases.

"I'll take your word for it," the Hokage said.

L was about to ask for the technology to speak to the police force indirectly, but suddenly he remembered. Naruto needed to learn too. He had to bring around Naruto with him in order for Naruto to learn. Unfortunately, L was never used to teaching. "Hokage-sama," L said again, respectfully, "thank you for allowing me this opportunity. When will I be able to start working?"

"I will send Kakashi to deliver you case files. As a child, I don't want the rest of the police to interact with you yet. Yes, you may have to go to the scenes sometimes, but you'll have a badge. You just won't be working in their department,"

"Thank you," L bowed and left. Kakashi jumped out through the window, his mask returned to his face. The luck L had, that Kakashi happened to be there as he was walking in. The timing worked perfectly. It was almost like someone had initially planned it all. Perhaps the Shinigami king had directed him. Or it was simply coincidence.

* * *

A neatly wrapped, brown, parcel was lying on his window the next morning. He couldn't help but have a tinge of excitement as he untied the string- like a child opening up Christmas presents. It was so nice to be delivered information rather than having to go out to get it. Policemen could become his dogs- sniffing out everything suspicious. He'd just have to piece the puzzle together.

Inside of the package, there was a golden badge attached to leather- much like a wallet. He supposed it would get him into crime scenes. And there it was, his first case. He smiled. Three people killed in the past week, with no evidence whatsoever. So the Hokage was starting him out with something challenging. Whatever the Nara couldn't get done- he would. And that was the best part. The Nara clan was smart, which meant he'd get the best puzzles. How was it that the killer was able to leave no evidence behind? Wrong. There is always evidence.

Naruto... he almost forgot about the boy. It was Saturday. He grabbed the case file and headed out, making sure the badge was in his pocket. Though it would be a pain to carry around the gold plated object everywhere he went, it would be much easier dealing with authorities with a form of authority himself. He also made sure to bring all the candy he could fit into his pocket and headed out. Before he did, however, he stopped at the door and turned to his pink haired father, "I am going to head out now."

"Where are you going?" of course he was surprised. L never went anywhere.

"Out," L replied. He let the door close as he left, folders in hand. Konoha was a beautiful city. Except for the part where people stared at him as he walked by. Was he that unusual looking? He was under the impression he looked slightly like the Uchiha clan, with black hair and black eyes (excluding those with sharingan on). Perhaps it was the slouch?

As he continued downtown, the city gradually worsened. Hookers were sitting grouped together on street corners, windows were shattered, and more and more sleeping beggars with shopping carts appeared. The apartment building he stood at was tall, but the infrastructure was wearing down. It certainly didn't stand out.

Security is awful... L thought as he opened the door and walked all the way to the third floor, panting. He pulled out a cherry flavored lollipop for his efforts. Across the walls, red spray paint decorated the door. "Demon child," it wrote. It pointed towards room four hundred and forty four. Superstitious people hated the number four. In the Chinese and Japanese language, the number four sounded awfully close to the word "death." Floor four was always discounted, Naruto probably had the cheapest of the rooms. The more fours, the more cheap it was. Smart kid. They probably called him a demon child because he survived there for so long.

He knocked on the door and waited. After a minute, L was going to leave and give up. But something made him stay. After two minutes, there was a stumble and the door opened. There Naruto stood, with a sleeping cap falling halfway off his face. "Uh-huh, come in," he fell asleep where he stood.

"Naruto," L woke him up with his gentle voice. The blond snorted awake and walked back inside like a zombie. He sat down at the kitchen table.

"Do you have any idea how early it is?" Naruto asked.

L turned to the clock. It read seven-thirty. "I expected you were accustomed to waking up this early for school."

"Yes but..." Naruto sighed. He was only five years old. Perhaps he did need more sleep.

Why was a five year old living in an apartment alone?

"Why don't you live at an orphanage?" L asked. Naruto shrugged.

"I'm going back to sleep," Naruto complained as he rested his head gently on the kitchen table.

"No you're not," L replied. He put the documents on the table, "we're going to see a crime scene today."


	5. abadnoned

hey guys so since I'm a shitty writer I've decided to abandon this thing idc if you wanna steal the idea I'm just an all around shit person I love you all


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